2018 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Aile d'Argent

In the early 1980s, Philippine de Rothschild decided to plant a few hectares of the vineyard with white grape varieties. The sandy, gravel-like soil is planted with Sauvignon Blanc (53%), Semillon (35%), Sauvignon Gris (11%) and Muscadelle (1%), with a density of 9,000 vines per hectare to face competition between vines encourage. 50% of the wine ages in new oak barrels. Rich, complex and elegant, the Mouton Rothschild Aile d'Argent has quickly become a benchmark for lovers of fine white Bordeaux wines, despite being produced in a very limited quantity.

A third of the 2017 harvest for this wine was lost due to frost. The Aile d'Argent 2017 is a blend of 53% Sauvignon Blanc, 46% Sémillon and 1% Muscadelle and has beautiful notes of white peaches, beeswax with hints of orange peel, grapefruit and a hint of sage. The taste is light to medium-body and bursting with exuberant stone fruit and citrus aromas, with a spicy line and a long, peach-like finish.

In 2017 there was no frost on Mouton - only a little on d'Armailhac. Winemaker Philippe Dhalluin noted that the drought at the start of the growing season meant that the bunches consisted of many small berries. The Merlot was even a little stressed and suffered a little, so Dhalluin thought it was more like a Cabernet year here in Pauillac. Revenues are only around 10% lower than in 2016. Petit Mouton is around 21% of production this year. The last blends were made mid-November because the malolactic fermentations progressed so quickly.

Aile d'Argent is a title of a children's story that father Baron Philippe de Rothschild read to his children. It was a sort of self-made fairy tale about the flying teapot. The teapot was called Aile d'Argent, Silver Wing. When the war broke out, Philippe de Rothschild was arrested (because of his Jewish background). In prison he wrote the story Aile d'Argent la Magique (Magical Silver Wing) and was published by Gallimard in 1947.